Idols and Twisted Gnostic Secrets

[aggienaut]

   Most recent LJ Idol poll is up. With 28 people remaining, its easy to read them all. I encourage doing so. And voting! (=

[Poll #1348977]

   I stared deep into the dark coils of lj, to understand its arcane inner magic, and lo, I was rewarded with gnostic secrets. Anyone can post any poll. I'm not a hacker, there is no secret. I simply questioned what I couldn't do and was rewarded.
   And I found this pleasing -- that specifically the kind of behaviour I thought most commendable (questioning your surroundings) yielded a reward of some usefulness. Personally I think the advantage gained by being able to post the poll in your entry was more deserved to those who found it and more proportional to the merits of earning it than nearly all the random "rewards" and "Special powers" that have been purposefully bandied about in this competition. In short, it made me feel like at least something was right in the world.
   However, all good things must come to an end. All too often good technology is eventually twisted, and this has happened.
   Gary became concerned and asked how it is done, and the knowledge was passed on to him. I hoped he would have the good sense to keep it under wraps, or at least would tell everyone about it all at once. Unfortunately however, he simply told two idolists, spydielives and kittenboo.
   It is no longer a slight advantage to those who have thought to question and investigate their surroundings on their own, it is now an advantage to those who asked Gary how to get advantages. That literally makes me feel sick, and I'll feel filthy until I rectify it.
   From here I'm quite clear that it will continue to spread, and until someone posts about it publicly the people who have gained the knowledge by asking others will do it under the table. Already today I'm seeing strange vote spikes NOT accompanied by a visible entry, that ARE accompanied by "last post: four hours ago," a spot I can't see an entry anywhere near.

   And so, I am levelling the playing field. I am telling each and every one of you that yes, you can post the poll. The method is shockingly, mind-blowingly simple, all you have to do is try. That or ask Gary.


PS: I thought I'd brighten your days with a visual representation of the poll standings. Please stand by, hopefully I'll have some charts converted to a postable size and form within an hour or two.

Comments

[kittenboo.livejournal.com]

actually gary didn't tell me, another contestant mentioned it as a comment to someone else's post and I simply asked who it was.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

*nods* That would actually be a more accurate statement. I used verbal short hand of saying that you knew and we had talked.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Then would you also clarify that I was surprised it was possible again, since I thought that had been fixed?

*laughing*

This clearly worked since he SHOT UP in the poll.

Eh...

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Eh, I am now 11 votes higher than I was, which is pretty typical of posting a link anyway.

For example, I wasn't tracking hourly when you posted your link but in the morning you had 12 more votes than you had when last I checked the night before. The median vote change during that time was a mere 4 votes...

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Though admittedly my vote rise is probably buffered by people taking votes away from me ;D

[kittenboo.livejournal.com]

why would people be taking votes away from you?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Also true that you said that.

Both conversations were much more in the line of academic curiosity than "How can I use this???"

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Thank you.